Trenching machine



T. LOKEN TRENGHING MACHINE Oct. 30, 1923.

Filec; Jan. 2. 1918 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 M NA Uct. 30, i923 T. LOKEN TRENGHING MACHINE Filed Jan. 2. 1918 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 30 i923. ,472,563

T. LoKEN TRENCHING MACHINE Fileduan'. 2. 1918 5 sheets-sheet Oct. 30, i923.

T. LOKEN TRENCHING MACHINE Filed Jan. 2. 1918 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Oct. 30, 1923. 1,472,563

T. LoKi-:N

TRENCHING MACHINE Filed Jan. 2. 1918 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 van] Ill Irl ll Il ll Hl L i i i) o 7 Z3 ELE 6 Z 9 l 6 Y 2 5+@- Q. J3 h 5 ,fw l- 4 '--j /0 9 g illniulllilll f f/"Ifz Patented Oct. 30, 1923.

, UNITED STATES TRULs 1.0m, or mesas, wIscoNsIN, AssIGNoB, BY mesma H .v .f

' r. c. Aus'rm xncnmnnv COMPANY, A conronsTIoN or Emom- PATENT OFFICE. i

TBENCHING MACHINE.

Application led January 2, 19.18. Serial No. 209,880.

To all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, TnULs LOKEN, a citizen of the United States of America, and

resident of Kenosha, county of Kenosha, and

State of Wisconsin, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Trenching Machines, of which the following is a specifif cation.

This invention relates to excavating machines of that kind in which a rin or spokeless wheel is mounted in rear of t e excavator h body, and provided with a series of scoops or buckets extending around the periphe thereof, so that by rotating the ring or spgkeless wheel in the ground, while the excavator is slowly moving forward, a trench will be cut in rear of the excavator body.

Generally'stated, the object of the invention is to'A provide a novel and improved trench-cutting-machine of the foregoing general character.

Another object is to provide an improved construction and arrangement whereby the buckets-or scoops are operative to cut into the ground and carry the excavated dirt upward, and to automatically dump their loads when they reach the point of discharge at the top of the ring or spokeless wheel, Without thenecessity of using gates or doors for the rear ends of said buckets, thereby to simplify the construction and render the. machine more certain and reliable in operation, and less'liable to break or get out of order.

It is also an object to provide certain details and features of construction and combinations tending to increase the general efciency and desirability of a rotary trenching-machine of this particular construction.

0 To these and other useful ends, the invention consists in matters hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying dra Figure 1 is a side elevation of a trenchingi$5 machine embodying the principles of the invention, with the forward end thereof broken away for convenience of illustration.

Figure 2 is a plan of the excavating apparatus of said machine:

Figure 3 is a longitndlnalsectlon on 11ne 3 3 in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged vertical transverse section on line 4.-4: in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a. detail section on line 5-5 in Figure 6, showin one of the scoops or Il buckets in front e ovation.

Figure 6 is a section online 6 6 in Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a perspective of one ofthe scoops or buckets.

As thus illustrated, the invention comprises a body frame or chassis A provided at its rear end with suitable traction means B, and having its forward end provided with steering wheels (not shown) and with an engine C or other suitable motive power for not only driving the machine forward, throu h the medium of said traction means, but a so for operating the rot y ring or spokeless wheel D in rearof sai body or chassis. This spokeless wheel is in the form of a ring composed of two tlat 1 and 1 spaced apart to receive the webs of angle iron rings 2, which latter are secured to the rings l by bolts 3, or by any suitable means, and the construction 1s such that the periphery of the wheel-is fiat in cross-section, but provided with a central slot t exten throughout the circumference thereof. sy swinging frame E is pivoted on the rear end m of the body frame A, by means of a. transverse shaft e, so that this frame is adapted to swing up and down behind the excavator body. Said frame E is provided with a depending framework F upon which are .mounted the wheels .f that are formed to en age the inner edges of the rings 1 of the spkeless wheel, whereby the latter is held in position to rotate about a transverse axis. The frame E is provided with a. trerse shaft 5 having pinions 6 which en the cogs 7 on the sides ofthe rings 1, and which thereby not only support the wheel but serve also to rotate the latter about its transverse axis. Sprocket chains 8 connect the shaft e with the shaft 5, whereby rotation of the shaft e will rotate the shaft 5 and thereby rotate the spokeless Wheel. In the slot 4 are pivoted the Shanks 9 of the buckets or scoops 10, which latter are in the form of trough-shaped plates having said Shanks applied to the centers thereof, so that each bucket is practically divided by its shank into two compartments. The holes 11 in thev Shanks of the buckets may receive the bolts 3, so that these bolts not only hold the parts of the wheel together but serve also as the pivots for the buckets. A. cam 12 is ge -thefc111"vedtail portions T3', of" the l Shanks 9, so that the fixed Scrapers 14, which are suitably mounted on theA upper frame 15V, i'nay -pass-throlgh tlie-"buckets,- thereby to scrape out the dirt and 'cause thesame to fall into the laterally extending chutes or spouts 16, which latter are o fsheet nictal and may be formed inte ral with said Scrapers or cleaners 14, an which may be removably held inplace by screws 1i' or other suitable means,

- Y zThe-shaft c can be rotated in any suitable ordsirable manner; for example, it may be connected by aA sprocket chain 18 Lwith the rotary shaft 19 on the chassis or 'motor truck body, and thisshaft 19 can be connected with the. motor or engine in any suitable or desired manner.. Thevshaft 19 is rotated in a direction to rotatethe shaft in such a direction that the buckets 10 'move upward in front of rthe spokeless wheel and downward in rear thereof, thus cutting the trench as the machine slowly moves forward.

AThe frameE is preferably provided with some means for lifting it upward, so that the spokeless wheel maybe lifted out of the trench. For this purpose, .the frame 15 may be provided with a' bail. 20 connected with a..boom or brace 21-pivoted at 22 on the body .fra-me, and the upper end of this brace or boomemay .be provided with a sheave 23 for the ltoistingor, lifting cable 24, which latteris iconnected' .to the auxiliary body frame 25 at 26,5and'supported by the sheave t ve .two stationary and oppositely; dispose Scrapers or cleaners 14 to pass through the bucket and thereb dislodge A the load there- 27 on said auxiliary frame. vThe other end l portionof said 'hoisting cable is wound on the' .drum28 on the body of .the machine, and thisdrum28 vcan be operated .through the medium of' any suitable power-transmittingfconnectiom. so .that .when the cable is yvoundthereonpthe brace or boom 2l will he" pulled forward,-and the vframe `E Will therebybe lifted `upward,j`.;(see dotted lines inEigurel) so that the rotary spokeless trench-cutting `wheel will be lifted out of talle-ground.A

{lhefeperationjis as. follows :.-The spokeless wheel is lowered into the ground, while it.rotatingf,: and1when itireaches the required..-.depth the tract-ion means are' then started-.to .propel the machine slowly forward-1Each-bucket .while passing below thewheehassumes. a'dgging position, as the pressure ofthe-soilagainst the cutting edge Geef the"bucket.svillfkeep its rear edge g pressed, tightly aga-inst4 the: flat periphery of the Nspekeless.,vv'heel, so-that in this position the-bucket is practically closed at its. rear end, thus holdingthe v'dirt as the bucket movesupwarid toward the dumping position. As'the bucket reaches the dumping position, its vtail portion 13= will ride upward upon the stationary cam 12, and Athis will tilt the bucket slightly forward on the wheel, thus strike-the ground, they are tilted backward to diggin position so that their forward cutting' e ges scrape up another load of dirt.. As the buckets rise -they preferably pass through a sheet metal tunnel or shield -I suitably mounted on theframes El land 15, but in the balance oftheir travel they are exposed and not enclosed. In this-way, the buckets are practically closed at their rear ends, Jbut not -by gates or 'doorsfand in this wa the construction obviates the necessity o using certain devices which have heretofore been considered necessary or desirable, but -which have not been entirely satisfactory. The simplified construction; thus brought about by the invention is strong and serviceable, is capable of etlicient- Work in heavy soil, such as hard clay, without danger of breakage, and at t-he same time the mud carried in the buckets will bepositively ejected or removed therefrom by the stationary Scrapers or cleaners 14, in

the manner previously described. Also, the

buckets are positively moved into position to allow` the cleaners to pass successively through the buckets, so that the cleaners or scrapers will not retard or interfere with the rotation of the spokeless wheel.

When the buckets G are in tilted position, after passing the cam l2, their curved outer surfaces or peripheries are then on a circle which is concentric to the periphery of the ring or rotary member D, and it follows, therefore, that the buckets when in operative position extend farther away from the axis of said member than when in any tilted position. As shown, the pivots of the buckets are so located that the cutting edges of the buckets are a little ahead of the pivots, when the buckets are in operative position', and hence' the buckets extend farther away from the periphery' of the ring or the-rotary member D when they are in operative posi,- tion than when in any tilted position. In this way, the buckets will descend into the trench in tilted/position, and will then begin to tilt backward about their pivots as soon as they begin to exert pressure against the breast orfront'end` of thetrench, and by tilting backward the buckets are caused to extend farther outward from the periphery of the ring or rotary member and into the dirt to be cut away. Also, it will be seen that the pivot of each bucket is substantially midway between thefront and rear edges of the bucket, when the bucket is in tilted position, so that the front edge of the bucket is some distance ahead of said pivot when the bucket is in operative position. In this way, the vbuckets are adapted to effectively o eni'ng its ,rear end, and thereby..permittingf vLava-eee discharge their loads aslthey pass over the cleaner, and operate in the desired manner in the trench.

With the combination and arrangement shown and described, the buckets are held in cleaning position while passing the cleaners 14, and while revolving rearward at the top of the rotary ring or spokeless wheel. The buckets after discharging their loads, enter the ground and are filled while they are revolving forward at the bottom of said rotary ring or spokelcss wheel.

The angle rings 2 and the cog rings or intcrnal gears l constitute a spokeless wheel,

so to speak, which is rotated as explained, in

a direction to cause each bucket to cutl forward at the bottom of the trench and then upward against the breast of the trench, while the trenching machine or excavator is moving slowly forward in the desired direction of travel thereof. In this way, moreover, each bucket is tilted by engagement of its cam 13 with the cam-engaging means 12 while the bucket or scoop is traveling in a direction opposite to that of the desired direction of travel of the excavator or trenching machine, at the top of the wheel, so that each bucket carries a load forward and then upward at the front side of the wheel, and then rearward at the top of the wheel, each load being thus automatically dumped or discharged while a bucket directly below is moving forward to take up a load as it approaches the breast or curved end of the trench.

What I claim as my invention is 1. In a traveling excavator, a pivoted bucket, means for moving said bucket forward in the direction of travel of the excavator and then upward to cut the ground and take up a load of dirt, a cam connected with said bucket, stationary controlling means for engaging said cam to tilt said bucket into cleaning position, and a cleaner disposed in position to pass through the moving bucket when the latter is thus tilted and held in cleaning position.

2. In a traveling excavator, a pivoted bucket, means for forcing said bucket into the breast of a trench to cut the ground then elevating it to carry a load of dirt to a discharge point, a cam connected with said bucket, stationary controlling means for engaging said cam to tilt the bucket into a cleaning position, and a clea'ner disposed in position to pass through the moving bucket when the latter is thus tilted.

3. In a traveling excavator, a pivoted bucket, means for moving said bucket into the breast of a trench to cut the ground and to elevate it to take a load of dirt to a dis.- charge point, a cam rigid with the bucket, a stationary controlling means at the discharge point for engaging the cam to tilt the bucket into a cleaning position, and a cleaner disposed in position to pass through the moving bucket when the latter is thus tilted and held in cleaning position.

4. In a traveling excavator, a pivoted bucket, means for moving said bucket into the breast of a trench to cut the ground and to elevate it to take a load of dirt to a discharging point, an arm on said bucket, a stationary device for en aging the arm to tilt the bucket into cleaning position, and a cleaner disposed in posit1on to pass through the moving bucket when the latteri is thus tilted and held in cleaning position.

5. In an excavating apparatus, the combination of a movable support, a dig ing and conveying bucket provided witi a shank pivoted on said support, means for positively operating said support thereby causing a bucket to have the desired cutting action in the ground, a stationary cam1 means rigid with the shank adapted for engagement with the cam to tilt a bucket into a cleaning position, and a cleaner arranged to pass through the bucket at the desired point to discharge therefrom.

6. In an excavating machine, the combination of a movable support, a digging and conveying bucket provided with a shank which is pivoted on said su port, means for positively operating sai support 'and thereby causing said bucket to have the desired cutting action in the ground, means for raising and lowering said support, so that said bucket may o erate at the desired depth in the groun a cleaner arranged to pass through said bucket at the desired point of discharge thereof, a stationary cam and means rigid with said shank to engage said cam thereby to tilt said bucket into cleaning position, and for holding the bucket in this position while passing said cleaner.

7 In a trenching machine, the combination of a pair of fiat-sided rings spaced apart and provided on their outer sides with cog teeth, a pair of rings of angle iron formation disposed between said atsided rings, buckets provided with centrally disposed Shanks inserted between the two angle iron rings, a cam on the shank of each bucket, bolts inserted through said rings and Shanks to form pivots for the buckets, pinions to engage said cog teeth, means to support said rings for rotation about a horizontal and transversely disposed axis, a pair of cleaners disposed in position to pass through said buckets, and means to engage said cams to tilt the buckets into cleaning position and to hold said buckets in such position while passing said cleaners.

8. A structure as specified in claim 7, in combination with means for rotating said rings in a direction to cause each bucket to cut forward at the bottom of the trench,and

then' upward against the breast 0f the trench, saidy camengaging means being disposed in position to tilt the buckets While the latter are at the top of said rings, so that each bucket is tilted by 'engagement of its cam with said means While traveling in a direction opposite to the direction of travel of the trenching machine.

9. In a traveling excavator, the combination of an annular member arranged to rotate about an axis extending transversely of the direction of travel of said excavator, excavating buckets -pivoted on said member,v means for positively rotating said member to cause said buckets to cut for- Ward at the bottom of the eXcavation,-and

lthen, upward against lthe breast thereof,

while they excavator is moving forward in the desired direction of travelthereof, stationary lcleaning means arranged to pass through the buckets while the latter are upside down and traveling rearward of the excavator at the top of said rotary member, and instrumentalities fon causing said buckets to automatically tilt into cleaning position before passing said cleaning means.

Signed by me at Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, this 14th day of December, 1917.

^ TRULS LOKEN. 

